Faisal II (1935 - 1958) - Find A Grave Memorial Death: Jul. 14, 1958 King of Iraq. He ascended to the throne at the age of three years upon the tragic death of his father, King Ghazi. Faisal's uncle Abd al-llah served as regent until Faisal came of age in 1953. As a child, he suffered from asthma. In April of 1941, Abd al-llah was briefly deposed by a military coup which aimed to align Iraq with the Axis powers, but he was quickly restored. As a teenager, Faisal attended Harrow School in England with his cousin King Hussein of Jordan. On May 2, 1953, he was able to fully assume the powers of his throne. Faisal relied heavily on the advice of both his uncle and longtime prime minister Nuri al-Sa'id, who were both considered pro-Western. There was growing opposition to his monarchy from the poor and middle class, who felt that the wealthy were the only ones who had any power in the country.

During Faisal's reign, Iraq signed the Baghdad Pact in 1955, which aligned the country with the West. On February 14, 1958, Iraq and Jordan joined together as a federation to counter Syria and Egypt's formation of the United Arab Republic. In the summer of that year, King Hussein of Jordan asked Iraq for military assistance during the growing crisis in Lebanon. Iraqi troops under Abd al-Karim Qasim, who were supposed to be going to Jordan, marched on Baghdad instead and mounted a coup on July 14, 1958. Faisal quickly surrendered to the rebels and he, his uncle Abd al-llah, and most of the royal family were executed in the palace courtyard. Nuri al Sa'id, his longtime prime minister, was brutally murdered the next day. Faisal's death brought an end to the 37 year old Iraqi monarchy. (bio by: Mr. Badger Hawkeye) King Faisal II of Iraq - YouTube King Faisal II of Iraq Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented.

This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Uploaded on Nov 8, 2009 Faisal II was the last sovereign of the Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq. He was born in 1939 and was the only son of King Ghazi and Queen Alia. When he was 3-years-old his father died in a suspect car crash and Faisal II became King of Iraq with his uncle serving as regent. When he came of age he was a serious and careful monarch, intent on Iraq having friendly relations with foreign nations and becoming a modern, prosperous country. To that end he used the oil revenues of the country to build up the infrastructure of Iraq and invest in numerous projects to develop and modernize. However, he was plagued by the new communist party and the precedent set by the overthrow of the King of Egypt. In 1958 republican radicals led a coup against the 23-year-old king, deposing him and brutally murdering almost the entire family. Since then Iraq has been ruled by a succession of dictators.

Category Iraq's last king lives on in Tintin comics - Emirates 24|7 Iraq's last king lives on in Tintin comics By Published Monday, August 15, 2011 Everyone here knows that the July 14 bridge, a convenient route to the US Embassy and government offices in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, marks a 1958 coup when Iraq's last king was murdered. But not many know that King Faisal II lives on in the classic "Tintin" comic books. This includes his own cousin, the man who would be king in the unlikely event that the Iraqi monarchy were restored. "I have read Tintin since childhood but I never made the connection with King Faisal," laughed Sharif Ali bin Hussein, amused to learn that Belgian comic writer Herge had modelled one of his characters on his relative. On the morning of July 14, 1958, King Faisal II, who had just turned 23, was led into the palace courtyard with several family members. All were executed under the command of Captain Abdul Sattar As-Saba'a, a leader in a coup d'etat led by Colonel Abdul Karim Qassim.

Sharif Ali, Faisal's maternal first cousin who is now in his mid-50s, was only about two at the time. The day's events changed the course of Iraqi history and led, in July 1979, to the rise of Saddam Hussein, whose dictatorship lasted until he himself was ousted by the 2003 US-led invasion. But years before, the young king had captured the imagination of the West -- as well as Tintin creator Herge -- after the tragic death of his father King Ghazi in a 1939 car crash that sent Faisal to the throne at age three. From childhood until death, the life of Iraq's "boy king" was chronicled in photos and articles in big-name US magazines like Time, Life and National Geographic. Herge quietly drew on the anecdotes to fashion his character Prince Abdullah of the imaginary kingdom of Khemed. The mischievous Arab prince and practical joker both exasperated and charmed boy reporter Tintin and his irascible friend Captain Haddock, first in the "Land of Black Gold" (1950) and later in "The Red Sea Sharks" (1958).

The real-life Faisal shared the same playfulness. "What I know from family anecdotes is that he used to love practical jokes, which is an indication of his sense of humour and sense of fun," said Sharif Ali at his villa on the Tigris river where framed photographs of his royal Hashemite lineage adorn the wall. "Touch not the son of my master," he chuckled, quoting from memory Captain Haddock when he grabs Abdullah in anger at his antics and is warned off by the boy's Arab guardian. The real life Faisal's mother Queen Aliya or his English governess Dora Borland at times escorted the "boy king", who was often photographed holding the hand of his uncle, Prince Abdulillah, who was regent until the king came of age in 1953. 'Things haven't changed much' Faisal II was a regular in Life magazine, which ran a 1942 photo essay showing the seven-year-old king first in shorts on an oversized throne, then on the palace grounds with his German shepherd dog.

Three years later -- when Iraq was under British wartime occupation -- the boy is surrounded on his 10th birthday by presents from British troops: a big toy yacht, a field kitchen and a tent. And in 1946, Life captured the 11-year-old in suit and tie in the French capital. "Iraq's boy king licks a lollipop while seeing Paris," read the photo caption. But it was a 1941 National Geographic story on Iraq with a picture of the "boy king", then six, that inspired Herge, whose real name is Prosper Remi, according to a Danish expert on the Tintin creator. "That picture was traced by Herge and made to resemble his fictional character, Prince Abdullah, the son of the Emir of Khemed," said Frank Madsen, 49, a Danish writer and illustrator of children's books, in an email to AFP. "In the story Herge needed Abdullah to be kidnapped by the villain Dr Muller, so that his hero Tintin could go rescue him," said Madsen.

"As always Herge wished to surprise his readers, so he made his character Abdullah into a spoiled kid, who did not want Tintin to rescue him at all." Despite Tintin's real-life connection with Iraq, his comics remain virtually unknown to Iraqi teenagers, or even to an older generation. But as Abdullah's character was modelled after the real-life Iraqi king, since 2003 Iraq has turned into a model of Herge's imaginary kingdom of Khemed, whose oil riches were coveted by crooked Western oil executives and arms merchants. In real life, arms merchants that Tintin was often trying to outfox have already done their bit in Iraq, perhaps nowhere with such unvarnished chutzpah than the ê80-million no-bid contract under which British firm ATSC sold more than 1,500 fake "bomb detectors". At checkpoints across Baghdad, Iraqi soldiers and policemen unholster their pistol-like ADE 651 "magic wands" to scan vehicles for explosives. But the device has no power source, no real innards, and has been called a fake by the US military.

At the US Embassy, whose numbers will double to 16,000 personnel next year, diplomats and salesmen from American arms makers and energy firms are gearing up for business as Baghdad ratchets up oil output and revenues. At the drop of a hat, American diplomats and military officers are ready to gush about how much has been accomplished in Iraq since the invasion. But like Khemed, Iraq remains an oil-rich but very broken country. Eight years after the invasion there is still no clean drinking water, state-supplied electricity comes on for only a few hours a day, corruption runs wide, and security is so tenuous that every day somewhere in the country someone is kidnapped or killed by gunmen or bombs. "If Tintin were to come to Iraq he would probably recognise many of the same characters he used to know," said Sharif Ali, the would-be king. "Things really haven't changed that much." Iraq's last king lives on in Tintin comics Iraq's last king lives on in Tintin comics Anwar Faruqi Share View photos File picture of several cartoon books featuring legend reporter Tintin, created by Belgian author Georges Remi aka Herge.

The Belgian comic writer had modelled the character of Prince Abdullah of Khemed after Iraq's late King Faisal II, who gained a sentimental popularity in the West as Iraq's "boy king," after he lost his father King Ghazi in a 1939 car crash and inherited the throne aged three More Everyone here knows that the July 14 bridge, a convenient route to the US Embassy and government offices in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, marks a 1958 coup when Iraq's last king was murdered. But not many know that King Faisal II lives on in the classic "Tintin" comic books. This includes his own cousin, the man who would be king in the unlikely event that the Iraqi monarchy were restored. "I have read Tintin since childhood but I never made the connection with King Faisal," laughed Sharif Ali bin Hussein, amused to learn that Belgian comic writer Herge had modelled one of his characters on his relative. On the morning of July 14, 1958, King Faisal II, who had just turned 23, was led into the palace courtyard with several family members.

All were executed under the command of Captain Abdul Sattar As-Saba'a, a leader in a coup d'etat led by Colonel Abdul Karim Qassim. Sharif Ali, Faisal's maternal first cousin who is now in his mid-50s, was only about two at the time. The day's events changed the course of Iraqi history and led, in July 1979, to the rise of Saddam Hussein, whose dictatorship lasted until he himself was ousted by the 2003 US-led invasion. But years before, the young king had captured the imagination of the West -- as well as Tintin creator Herge -- after the tragic death of his father King Ghazi in a 1939 car crash that sent Faisal to the throne at age three. From childhood until death, the life of Iraq's "boy king" was chronicled in photos and articles in big-name US magazines like Time, Life and National Geographic. Herge quietly drew on the anecdotes to fashion his character Prince Abdullah of the imaginary kingdom of Khemed.

The mischievous Arab prince and practical joker both exasperated and charmed boy reporter Tintin and his irascible friend Captain Haddock, first in the "Land of Black Gold" (1950) and later in "The Red Sea Sharks" (1958). The real-life Faisal shared the same playfulness. "What I know from family anecdotes is that he used to love practical jokes, which is an indication of his sense of humour and sense of fun," said Sharif Ali at his villa on the Tigris river where framed photographs of his royal Hashemite lineage adorn the wall. "Touch not the son of my master," he chuckled, quoting from memory Captain Haddock when he grabs Abdullah in anger at his antics and is warned off by the boy's Arab guardian. The real life Faisal's mother Queen Aliya or his English governess Dora Borland at times escorted the "boy king", who was often photographed holding the hand of his uncle, Prince Abdulillah, who was regent until the king came of age in 1953.

Faisal II was a regular in Life magazine, which ran a 1942 photo essay showing the seven-year-old king first in shorts on an oversized throne, then on the palace grounds with his German shepherd dog. Three years later -- when Iraq was under British wartime occupation -- the boy is surrounded on his 10th birthday by presents from British troops: a big toy yacht, a field kitchen and a tent. And in 1946, Life captured the 11-year-old in suit and tie in the French capital. "Iraq's boy king licks a lollipop while seeing Paris," read the photo caption. But it was a 1941 National Geographic story on Iraq with a picture of the "boy king", then six, that inspired Herge, whose real name is Prosper Remi, according to a Danish expert on the Tintin creator. "That picture was traced by Herge and made to resemble his fictional character, Prince Abdullah, the son of the Emir of Khemed," said Frank Madsen, 49, a Danish writer and illustrator of children's books, in an email to AFP.

"In the story Herge needed Abdullah to be kidnapped by the villain Dr Muller, so that his hero Tintin could go rescue him," said Madsen. "As always Herge wished to surprise his readers, so he made his character Abdullah into a spoiled kid, who did not want Tintin to rescue him at all." Despite Tintin's real-life connection with Iraq, his comics remain virtually unknown to Iraqi teenagers, or even to an older generation. But as Abdullah's character was modelled after the real-life Iraqi king, since 2003 Iraq has turned into a model of Herge's imaginary kingdom of Khemed, whose oil riches were coveted by crooked Western oil executives and arms merchants. In real life, arms merchants that Tintin was often trying to outfox have already done their bit in Iraq, perhaps nowhere with such unvarnished chutzpah than the $80-million no-bid contract under which British firm ATSC sold more than 1,500 fake "bomb detectors". Read More At checkpoints across Baghdad, Iraqi soldiers and policemen unholster their pistol-like ADE 651 "magic wands" to scan vehicles for explosives.

But the device has no power source, no real innards, and has been called a fake by the US military. At the US Embassy, whose numbers will double to 16,000 personnel next year, diplomats and salesmen from American arms makers and energy firms are gearing up for business as Baghdad ratchets up oil output and revenues. At the drop of a hat, American diplomats and military officers are ready to gush about how much has been accomplished in Iraq since the invasion. But like Khemed, Iraq remains an oil-rich but very broken country. Eight years after the invasion there is still no clean drinking water, state-supplied electricity comes on for only a few hours a day, corruption runs wide, and security is so tenuous that every day somewhere in the country someone is kidnapped or killed by gunmen or bombs. "If Tintin were to come to Iraq he would probably recognise many of the same characters he used to know," said Sharif Ali, the would-be king.

"Things really haven't changed that much." Reblog Iraq's last king lives on in Tintin comics - Your Middle East 13.01 (GMT): Morocco bans the burqa The young King Faisal II of Iraq in 1953 The young King Faisal II of Iraq takes the oath at the age of 18, in front of the Parliament in 1953 in Baghdad. The third and last king of Iraq, Faisal was born in Baghdad in 1935 studied in England at Harrow before installed as king. On 14 July 1958 he and his entire household were assassinated during a military coup and his body displayed in public. Iraq was then proclaimed a republic. © - AFP/Intercontinentale/File Several cartoon books featuring legend reporter Tintin, created by Belgian author Georges Remi aka Herge File picture of several cartoon books featuring legend reporter Tintin, created by Belgian author Georges Remi aka Herge.

The Belgian comic writer had modelled the character of Prince Abdullah of Khemed after Iraq's late King Faisal II, who gained a sentimental popularity in the West as Iraq's "boy king," after he lost his father King Ghazi in a 1939 car crash and inherited the throne aged three. © Jean-Pierre Muller - AFP Sharif Ali bin Hussein, the man who would be king in the unlikely event that the monarchy were revived in Iraq Sharif Ali bin Hussein, the man who would be king in the unlikely event that the monarchy were revived in Iraq, at his home on the Tigris river in Baghdad on July 13, 2011. © Ahmad al-Rubaye - AFP/File A figurine of cartoon legend reporter Tintin File photo of a figurine of cartoon legend reporter Tintin, created by Belgian author Georges Remi aka Herge. Everyone here knows that the July 14 bridge, a convenient route to the US Embassy and government offices in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, marks a 1958 coup when Iraq's last king was murdered. But not many know that King Faisal II lives on in the classic "Tintin" comic books.

© Jean-Pierre Muller - AFP/File < Last updated: August 15, 2011 Iraq's last king lives on in Tintin comics Everyone here knows that the July 14 bridge, a convenient route to the US Embassy and government offices in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, marks a 1958 coup when Iraq's last king was murdered. But not many know that King Faisal II lives on in the classic "Tintin" comic books. This includes his own cousin, the man who would be king in the unlikely event that the Iraqi monarchy were restored. "I have read Tintin since childhood but I never made the connection with King Faisal," laughed Sharif Ali bin Hussein, amused to learn that Belgian comic writer Herge had modelled one of his characters on his relative. On the morning of July 14, 1958, King Faisal II, who had just turned 23, was led into the palace courtyard with several family members. All were executed under the command of Captain Abdul Sattar As-Saba'a, a leader in a coup d'etat led by Colonel Abdul Karim Qassim.

Sharif Ali, Faisal's maternal first cousin who is now in his mid-50s, was only about two at the time. The day's events changed the course of Iraqi history and led, in July 1979, to the rise of Saddam Hussein, whose dictatorship lasted until he himself was ousted by the 2003 US-led invasion. But years before, the young king had captured the imagination of the West -- as well as Tintin creator Herge -- after the tragic death of his father King Ghazi in a 1939 car crash that sent Faisal to the throne at age three. From childhood until death, the life of Iraq's "boy king" was chronicled in photos and articles in big-name US magazines like Time, Life and National Geographic. Herge quietly drew on the anecdotes to fashion his character Prince Abdullah of the imaginary kingdom of Khemed. The mischievous Arab prince and practical joker both exasperated and charmed boy reporter Tintin and his irascible friend Captain Haddock, first in the "Land of Black Gold" (1950) and later in "The Red Sea Sharks" (1958).

The real-life Faisal shared the same playfulness. "What I know from family anecdotes is that he used to love practical jokes, which is an indication of his sense of humour and sense of fun," said Sharif Ali at his villa on the Tigris river where framed photographs of his royal Hashemite lineage adorn the wall. "Touch not the son of my master," he chuckled, quoting from memory Captain Haddock when he grabs Abdullah in anger at his antics and is warned off by the boy's Arab guardian. Don't miss out on great stories! Signup to our newsletter and follow us on Facebook and Twitter! Follow @YourMiddleEast The real life Faisal's mother Queen Aliya or his English governess Dora Borland at times escorted the "boy king", who was often photographed holding the hand of his uncle, Prince Abdulillah, who was regent until the king came of age in 1953. Faisal II was a regular in Life magazine, which ran a 1942 photo essay showing the seven-year-old king first in shorts on an oversized throne, then on the palace grounds with his German shepherd dog.

Three years later -- when Iraq was under British wartime occupation -- the boy is surrounded on his 10th birthday by presents from British troops: a big toy yacht, a field kitchen and a tent. And in 1946, Life captured the 11-year-old in suit and tie in the French capital. "Iraq's boy king licks a lollipop while seeing Paris," read the photo caption. But it was a 1941 National Geographic story on Iraq with a picture of the "boy king", then six, that inspired Herge, whose real name is Prosper Remi, according to a Danish expert on the Tintin creator. "That picture was traced by Herge and made to resemble his fictional character, Prince Abdullah, the son of the Emir of Khemed," said Frank Madsen, 49, a Danish writer and illustrator of children's books, in an email to AFP. "In the story Herge needed Abdullah to be kidnapped by the villain Dr Muller, so that his hero Tintin could go rescue him," said Madsen.

"As always Herge wished to surprise his readers, so he made his character Abdullah into a spoiled kid, who did not want Tintin to rescue him at all." Despite Tintin's real-life connection with Iraq, his comics remain virtually unknown to Iraqi teenagers, or even to an older generation. But as Abdullah's character was modelled after the real-life Iraqi king, since 2003 Iraq has turned into a model of Herge's imaginary kingdom of Khemed, whose oil riches were coveted by crooked Western oil executives and arms merchants. In real life, arms merchants that Tintin was often trying to outfox have already done their bit in Iraq, perhaps nowhere with such unvarnished chutzpah than the $80-million no-bid contract under which British firm ATSC sold more than 1,500 fake "bomb detectors". At checkpoints across Baghdad, Iraqi soldiers and policemen unholster their pistol-like ADE 651 "magic wands" to scan vehicles for explosives. But the device has no power source, no real innards, and has been called a fake by the US military.

At the US Embassy, whose numbers will double to 16,000 personnel next year, diplomats and salesmen from American arms makers and energy firms are gearing up for business as Baghdad ratchets up oil output and revenues. At the drop of a hat, American diplomats and military officers are ready to gush about how much has been accomplished in Iraq since the invasion. But like Khemed, Iraq remains an oil-rich but very broken country. Eight years after the invasion there is still no clean drinking water, state-supplied electricity comes on for only a few hours a day, corruption runs wide, and security is so tenuous that every day somewhere in the country someone is kidnapped or killed by gunmen or bombs. "If Tintin were to come to Iraq he would probably recognise many of the same characters he used to know," said Sharif Ali, the would-be king. "Things really haven't changed that much." Why was Saddam Hussein haunted by the brutal murder of Iraq's boy king? | Daily Mail Online Why was Saddam Hussein haunted by the brutal murder of Iraq's boy king?

comments Waiting in a spartan, concrete-lined chamber at Camp Justice, an Iraqi army base in Kazimain, a north-eastern suburb of Baghdad, the 69-year-old fallen dictator Saddam Hussein, dressed in a black overcoat, stood on the trapdoor of the gallows. Found guilty of crimes against humanity during his 24 years as President of Iraq, he had been sentenced to death. But even now, in his last moments, he maintained his old defiance. Saddam Hussein moments before his death Spurning the use of a black hood over his head, he shouted 'Allah is great', as three masked executioners placed the rope around his throat. The platform dropped and there was an audible crack, indicating that his neck was broken. One of modern history's most ruthless tyrants was dead at last. Only moments before the end, on December 30, 2006, Shi'ite observers at the execution had hurled sectarian insults at Saddam (a Sunni), taunting him with the name of his great antagonist, the radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada Sadr. 'Moqtada! Moqtada!' they jeered.

Saddam repeated the name mockingly, adding: 'Do you consider this bravery?' But despite the hopes and jubilation of his enemies, Saddam's thoughts in those final moments are unlikely to have been of Moqtada, but of another much younger man - one born only two years before himself: the tragic last King of Iraq, whose brutal murder 50 years ago this summer not only shocked and horrified the world, but haunted and obsessed Saddam for the rest of his days. In the dock: Saddam Hussein was obsessed by the murdered boy king of Iraq Faisal II Last week, BBC2 began screening a four-part drama series, House Of Saddam, charting the Iraqi dictator's journey from ambitious young law student to all-powerful tyrant to the bedraggled, long-bearded tramp captured by American forces in December 2003. The series is a terrifying study of the ruthless pursuit of power, but it does not mention Iraq's last monarch, Faisal II, with whom Saddam - who was only 21 when the King was butchered - was to become fixated, despite his own hostility to the monarchy.

Why was it that the young King's horrific death at the age of 23 filled the republican Saddam with an overwhelming sense of shame? Why, at the zenith of his power as the ruler of Iraq, did Saddam provide the murdered monarch with a magnificent new marble tomb? And why, even more astonishingly, did he make frequent and secret visits to King Faisal's grave, even ordering the cemetery officials to open the royal tomb so that he might gaze in morbid fascination at the last sovereign's mutilated and mangled remains? Was it because he somehow already had a premonition that his own end would be every bit as macabre as that of the far more decent, honourable and innocent young man who had perished all those years before him? The saga begins some 17 years before Saddam's birth. After the end of World War I, Britain, France and the United States seized the rights to 95 per cent of the oil in Iraq. In 1920, the newly-formed League of Nations granted Britain a mandate over Iraq in the form of a kind of pre-independence trusteeship.

King Faisal who was brutally murdered at the age of 23 As Colonial Secretary, Winston Churchill presided over the Cairo conference in 1921 and decided upon the creation of an artificial monarchy in Iraq, forcing three radically different groups - the Sunni Muslim Kurds, the Sunni Muslim Arabs and the Shi'ite Muslims - to combine under a single ruler. Churchill's resolve was to have calamitous consequences. Today's map of the Middle East, the rise of Saddam Hussein, the Gulf Wars of 1991 and 2003, and the current bloodshed and schism in Iraq are the unwitting legacies of that decision. The Hashemite constitutional monarchy imposed on Iraq by the British was headed by 35-year-old King Faisal I, who was born in what is now Saudi Arabia, had never set foot in Iraq, spoke an Arabic dialect that was barely intelligible to his future subjects, and had no knowledge of the disparate Iraqi tribes. Faisal spent his 12-year reign attempting to hold the balance between British interests in his kingdom and Iraqi suspicions over his alleged pro-Western sympathies. The strain undermined his health, and he died from a heart attack at 48 within a week of his arrival.

Faisal's son, King Ghazi, a 21-year-old playboy who resented British domination, inherited the throne but six years later, in 1939, he crashed his sports car in Baghdad after a night of heavy drinking and died from his injuries. The crown then fell to the playboy's only son, four-year-old King Faisal II, who began his reign under the regency of his repressive and hugely unpopular maternal uncle, Crown Prince Abdullah. Faisal II was educated in Britain at Harrow, along with his cousin, King Hussein of Jordan. Faisal, the intelligent ruler of a rich country, appeared destined for greatness. Hussein, king of a penniless backwater, described by his housemaster as 'not a success at Harrow', seemed bound to fail. Iraqi Sunni Arabs pray at Saddam Hussein's own grave in his home village of Awja On May 2, 1953, both 18-year-old cousins were enthroned as monarchs in separate ceremonies in Baghdad and Amman.

Watching from the crowd, as King Faisal II arrived to take the oath before Parliament, was 16-year-old Saddam Hussein, who would later tell King Hussein that although he was not in sympathy with the policies of the monarchy, he was 'intrigued and fascinated by the character and bearing of the young King'. But the tide was turning against the Hashemite dynasty. King Faisal II remained committed to his grand-father's pro-British policies, the unpopularity of which increased ten-fold in 1956, following British, French and American opposition to Egypt's seizure of the Suez Canal. Tragically, it was his close alliance with his cousin King Hussein, the man he trusted most in the world, that led to Faisal's destruction. In the summer of 1958, King Hussein asked for Iraqi military assistance during an escalating crisis in Lebanon where civil war looked certain to break out. On July 13, two infantry brigades of the Iraqi army received orders to proceed to Jordan, via Baghdad. That night, King Faisal II, the hated and still hugely influential Crown Prince and other members of the Royal Family were in their palace in Baghdad.

Brigadier Abdul Karim Qassim, a disaffected Iraqi officer in command of the two brigades, realised that he had a 'now or never' chance to use his mobilised troops to overthrow the regime - and instead of sending them on towards Jordan, he directed them towards the Qasr Rihab palace. There is clear evidence that the British and American governments had advance intelligence of the planned coup, but all their energies at that time were channelled into supporting the beleaguered King Hussein. By a curious coincidence, my sister, Jean Thornton, then 27 and working for Shell in Iran, also had disturbing evidence of what was about to happen. Driving with a group of British and American friends across the border to a dinner-dance in Baghdad, they encountered road-blocks, a curfew in operation and armed guards pointing machine guns at their car. For a moment, the situation seemed perilous. Then my sister turned to an American woman and urged: 'Show them your new Polaroid camera.

Take their picture with it.' The Iraqi guards, never having seen a Polaroid camera, were so delighted by their instant photos that they waved the group through, though it was only for the party to discover that the event to which they were travelling had been abruptly cancelled. Some time after 5.30 on the morning of July 14, 1958, the palace in Baghdad was surrounded by tanks. They opened fire, causing thick columns of smoke to billow from the upper floors of the building. Crown Prince Abdullah, realising that the palace was surrounded, ordered the royal guards to surrender, and to fly a white flag from the roof. A little before eight o'clock, the 23-year- old King Faisal II, who was engaged to be married, his uncle, the Crown Prince Abdullah, Princess Abadiya (the King's aunt), Princess Nafeesa (Abdullah's mother), Abdullah's six-year- old nephew, a group of Arab maidservants and Pakistani cooks stumbled out of the rear entrance of the blazing palace to confront a semi- circle of armed officers. They were asked to turn to face the wall. What happened next is not clear - there are any number of conflicting accounts.

It appears that the plan was to take the King alive. But from the front entrance of the palace, emerging at a run, with a submachine gun in his hand, came an officer, Captain Abdus Sattar As Sab, who was overcome by the situation. Later claiming that he was 'in a state of frenzy' and felt as if 'a black cloud' had covered his vision, he opened fire on the Royal Family, killing them all with the possible exception of the King, who, according to some accounts, did not die immediately. One eye-witness, however, an assistant cook at the royal palace, who suffered a traumatic amputation of one arm in the attack, insisted that he was 'absolutely certain' that he had seen the King killed by the fire of automatic weapons which the troops used upon all assembled there. The cook thought the troops then beheaded the King. King Faisal's body was taken to the Royal Hospital in Baghdad where, after some days, witnesses were allowed to see it in order to prove that the King was really dead.

The first lorry-load of bodies from the Palace was inspected by a doctor who was so horrified at the extent of mutilation that he was unable to decide whether the women were of the Royal Family or servants of the household. The body of the hated Crown Prince was turned over to the mob. The hands and feet were hacked off and carried through the streets on spikes. The naked and mutilated body was then dragged to the Ministry of Defence, where it was hanged by the neck from the balcony. The Prime Minister, Nuri es Said, who had escaped from Baghdad dressed as a woman, was captured and shot, his body disembowelled and dragged through the streets by the mob. 'Finally,' records one secret Foreign Office report, 'a car was driven backwards and forwards over it until it was flattened into the ground.' One British diplomat, Charles Johnston-in a secret report to Whitehall, wrote: 'I have left out a number of horrors (mutilation, cannibalism etc) - and am not enclosing a gruesome photograph of the Crown Prince's body hanging from the balcony.

'If the Russian Revolution had been put into execution by the Mau Mau, the effect would not have been very much different.' However, over the murder of the young King, who had lived modestly and was innocent of all taint of corruption, there was, according to the British Ambassador, Sir Michael Wright, 'evidence of widespread shame and grief'. The distinguished British historian Jane Priestland, editor of Records Of Iraq, 1914-1966, says: 'I have no doubt at all that the British government had advance knowledge of the coup. 'There are documents in existence, that have not been released, that would substantiate this.' When, in October 2006, she made a Freedom of Information request for the release of these documents, it was refused by the Foreign Office on the grounds that 'this could increase the instability in an already volatile area of the world'. King Faisal's body was buried in strict secrecy at the Hashemite royal cemetery in Adhamiya, north of Baghdad. And there it lay virtually forgotten for 21 years, until Saddam Hussein seized power in 1979, the point at which this week's television series began.

To the astonishment of his entourage, Saddam, the new President of Iraq, began to make secret visits to King Faisal's tomb. On some occasions, he remained inside the royal mausoleum for more than an hour. In 1982, Saddam arranged for King Hussein of Jordan - who, unlike his less fortunate cousin, had survived wars and countless assassination attempts as he walked a tightrope across the abyss of Middle Eastern politics - to come to Adhamiya to visit King Faisal's final resting place. In that same year, by presidential decree, Saddam remodelled the royal cemetery, providing Iraq's last King with a magnificent new marble tomb. Some whispered that the President 'believed himself to be of Hashemite descent'; others that he was merely obsessed and fixated by Faisal II's tragically brief life and reign. On several occasions, Saddam astonished the cemetery officials by asking for the marble slab that covered Faisal's grave to be removed, and for the royal coffin, sealed for more than a quarter of a century, to be opened for his inspection. Was it the corpse of the murdered monarch at which Saddam gazed with such morbid fascination? Or was it the spectre of his own destiny?

That destiny closed in upon him all too rapidly after the fall of Baghdad on April 9, 2003. His sons Uday and Qusay and his 14-year-old grandson Mustapha were killed in a three-hour gunfight with American forces three months later, followed by the humiliating capture of the bearded and dishevelled Saddam himself at a farmhouse in ad-Dawr, near his native Tikrit in December. After the invasion that ousted him from power, American forces for a time occupied the royal cemetery at Adhamiya, damaging the tomb of Faisal II's grandfather, when they searched it for weapons, and also several of the chandeliers in the mosque. Protests by the local Iraqi population eventually forced the Americans to withdraw. 'Now no one dares to come here,' says the royal cemetery guard, Ghanem Jamil Ali. 'If you go to the main gate, you will see a tank in front of it.' Yet there, among the evergreen trees and close to the historic Tigris River, stands the strangest and most mysterious relic of Saddam's 24-year reign: his monument to the tragic young King he regarded as a royal martyr.

House Of Saddam is on BBC2 at 9pm on Wednesdays. Kingdom of Iraq - House of Al-Hashimi Kingdom of Iraq House of Al-Hashimi The Kingdom of Iraq (Arabic: المملكة العراقية‎ Al-Mamlakah Al-'Irāqiyyah) was the first modern state in Iraq, which began in August 1921 with the coronation of Faisal bin al-Hussein bin Ali al-Hashemi as King Faisal I. Although a League of Nations mandate was awarded to Britain in 1920, the 1920 Iraqi revolt resulted in the mandate plan being dropped and a semi-independent kingdom being created under the Hashemite allies of Britain. The kingdom was granted full independence in 1932 following the Anglo-Iraqi Treaty (1930). The kingdom ended in 1958 when King Faisal II together with the Crown Prince were murdered and the monarchy was over thrown in a coup led by Abd al-Karim Qasim.

The House of Hashemite Hashemite is the Latinate version of the Arabic: هاشمي‎, transliteration: Hāšimī, and traditionally refers to those belonging to the Banu Hashim, or "clan of Hashim", a clan within the larger Quraish tribe. It also refers to an Arab dynasty whose original strength stemmed from the network of tribal alliances and blood loyalties in the Hejaz region of Saudi Arabia, along the Red Sea. The Hashemites trace their ancestry from Hashim ibn Abd al-Manaf (died c. 510 AD), the great-grandfather of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, although the definition today mainly refers to the descendants of the prophet's daughter, Fatimah. The early history of the Hashemites saw them in a continuous struggle against the Umayyads for control over who would be the caliph or successor to Muhammad. The Umayyads were of the same tribe as the Hashemites, but a different clan. After the overthrow of the Umayyads, the Abbasids would present themselves as representatives of the Hashemites, as they claimed descent from Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib, an uncle of Muhammad.

Muhammad's father had died before he was born, and his mother died while he was a child, so Muhammad was raised by his uncle Abu Talib, chief of the Hashemites. From the 10th century onwards, the Sharif (religious leader) of Mecca and its Emir was by traditional agreement a Hashemite. Before World War I, Hussein bin Ali of the Hashemite Dhawu-'Awn clan ruled the Hejaz on behalf of the Ottoman sultan. For some time it had been the practice of the Sublime Porte to appoint the Emir of Mecca from among a select group of candidates. In 1908, Hussein bin Ali was appointed Emir of Mecca. He found himself increasingly at odds with the Young Turks in control at Istanbul, while he strove to secure his family's position as hereditary Emirs During and after World War I Sharif Hussein bin Ali rebelled against the rule of the Ottomans during the Arab Revolt of 1916.

Between 1917 and 1924, after the collapse of Ottoman power, Hussein bin Ali ruled an independent Hejaz, of which he proclaimed himself king, with the tacit support of the British Foreign Office. His supporters are sometimes referred to as "Sharifians" or the "Sharifian party". His chief rival in the Arabian peninsula was the king of the highlanders on the highland of Najd named Ibn Saud, who annexed the Hejaz in 1925 and set his own son, Faysal bin Abdelaziz Al Saud, as governor, the region was later incorporated into Saudi Arabia. Hussein bin Ali had five sons: Ali, who briefly succeeded to the throne of Hejaz before its loss to the Saud family. Abdullah, later became the king of Transjordan, and whose descendants rule the kingdom, that has been known ever since as the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Faisal, was briefly proclaimed King of Syria, and ended up becoming King of Iraq. Prince Zeid, who moved to Jordan when his brother's grandson, King Faisal II of Iraq, was overthrown and murdered in a coup in 1958.

Hassan, died at a young age. Royal Standard of the Kingdom of Iraq Iraq's first flag was inspired by the flag of the Kingdom of Hejaz, and was in use at the time of independence in 1932. The flag was actually used before independence, from 1924 to 1959. Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq - 1921-1958 Name Arabic: فيصل بن حسين بن علي الهاشمي ‎ 20 May 1883 - 8 September 1933 23 August 1921 21 March 1912 - 4 April 1939 8 September 1933 2 May 1935 - 14 July 1958 4 April 1939 The 14th July Revolution in Iraq In the summer of 1958, King Hussein of Jordan asked for Iraqi military assistance during the escalating Lebanon crisis.

Units of the Iraqi Army under the command of Abd al-Karim Qasim, en route to Jordan, chose to march on Baghdad instead, where they mounted a coup d'état on 14 July 1958. During the 14 July Revolution, Faisal II ordered the royal guard to offer no resistance, and Faisal himself surrendered to the insurgents. Around 8 am, Captain Abdul Sattar Sabaa Al-Ibousi, leading the revolutionary assault group at the palace, ordered the King, Crown Prince 'Abd al-Ilah‎, Princess Hiyam ('Abd al-Ilah‎'s wife), Princess Nafeesa ('Abd al-Ilah‎'s mother), Princess Abadiya (Faisal's aunt) and several servants to gather in the palace courtyard. Here, they were told to turn towards the wall, where all were immediately machine-gunned by their captors. Faisal, who had not died during the initial fusillade, was transported to a hospital, but died en-route. Princess Hiyam survived her injuries, caused during the massacre, and was able to escape the country.

Nuri as-Said, Faisal's Prime Minister, was killed by Qassim's supporters the following day. The monarchy was formally abolished, and control over the country passed to a tripartite "Sovereignty Council," composed of representatives of Iraq's three major ethnic groups. A lengthy period of political instability ensued, culminating in the ultimate triumph in 1963 of the Ba'ath Party, which in turn led to the eventual coming to power of Saddam Hussein.

The Royal Family Titles and Styles Sovereign of Iraq: has the Title of King of Iraq, with the formal appellation of His Majesty, wife of the Sovereign: has the Title of Queen of Iraq, with the formal appellation of Her Majesty, Heir Apparent: has the Title of Crown Prince, with the formal appellation of His Royal Highness, sons of the Sovereign: have the Title of Amir - Prince, with the formal appellation of His Royal Highness, daughters of the Sovereign: have the Title of Amira - Princess, with the formal appelltion of Her Royal Highness, whereas other members of the Royal Family of Iraq: have the Titles of Amir - Prince or Amira - Princess with the formal appellation of His or Her Highness, wives of Amirs, and the widows until they remarry: are able to use the title of Amira - Princess together with the formal appellation borne by husbands.

The Genealogy of The Royal House of Iraq King of Iraq: 1921 - 1933 HM Faisal I bin Hussein bin Ali al-Hashemi, (Arabic: فيصل بن حسين بن علي الهاشمي‎ Fayṣal ibn Ḥusayn; 20 May 1885 - 8 September 1933) was for a short time King of the Arab Kingdom of Syria or Greater Syria in 1920, and was King of the Kingdom of Iraq (today Iraq) from 23 August 1921 to 1933. He was a member of the Hashemite dynasty. Faisal encouraged overcoming cleavage between Sunni and Shiite to foster common loyalty and promote pan-Arabism in the goal of creating an Arab state that would include Iraq, Syria and the rest of the Fertile Crescent. While in power, Faisal tried to diversify his administration by including different ethnic and religious groups in offices. He faced great challenges in achieving this because the region was under European, specifically French and British, control and other Arab leaders of the time were hostile to his ideas as they pursued their own political aspirations for power.

In addition, Faisal's attempt at pan-Arab nationalism inevitably isolated certain religious groups. Faisal was born in Ta'if (in present-day Saudi Arabia) in 1883, the third son of Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca, the Grand Sharif of Mecca. He grew up in Constantinople and learned about leadership from his father. In 1913, he was elected as representative for the city of Jeddah for the Ottoman parliament. In 1916, on a mission to Istanbul, he visited Damascus twice. On one of these visits he received the Damascus Protocol, joined with the Al-Fatat group of Arab nationalists, and his father became king of Hejaz. Faisal was married to Hazima bint Nasser and had one son and three daughters: Princess Azza bint Faisal Princess Rajiha bint Faisal Princess Raifia bint Faisal Ghazi, King of Iraq born 1912 died 4 April 1939, married Princess Aliya bint Ali daughter of HM King Ali of Hejaz.

King of Iraq: 1933 - 1939 HM King Ghazi I (Arabic: غازي ابن فيصل‎ Ġāzī bin Fayṣal) (March 21, 1912 - April 4, 1939) was the King of the Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq from 1933 to 1939 having been briefly Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Syria in 1920. He was born in Mecca (in present-day Saudi Arabia), the only son of Faisal I, the first King of Iraq. On 8 September 1933, King Faisal I died, and Ghazi was crowned as King Ghazi I. On the same day, Ghazi was appointed Admiral of the Fleet in the Royal Iraqi Navy, Field Marshal of the Royal Iraq Army, and Marshal of the Royal Iraqi Air Force. A staunch pan-Arab nationalist, opposed to British interests in his country, Ghazi's reign was characterized by tensions between civilians and the army, which sought control of the government. He supported General Bakr Sidqi in his coup, which replaced the civilian government with a military one.

This was the first coup d'état to take place in the Arab world. He was rumored to harbor sympathies for Nazi Germany and also put forth a claim for Kuwait to be annexed to Iraq. For this purpose he had his own radio station in al-Zuhoor royal palace in which he promoted that claim and other radical views. Ghazi died in 1939 in a mysterious accident involving a sports car he was driving. Some believe he was killed on the orders of Nuri as-Said. Faisal, Ghazi's only son, succeeded him as King Faisal II. Because Faisal was under age, Prince Abdul Ilah served as Regent until 1953. On January 25, 1934 Ghazi married Princess Aliya bint Ali daughter of King Ali of Hejaz in Baghdad Iraq. They had only one son: Faisal II, King of Iraq - born May 2, 1935 died July 14, 1958 Faisal was first betrothed to Princess Kıymet Hanım, a descendant of the last Mamluk dynasty of Iraq, in January 1958. This engagement was called off three months later.

Faisal then asked for the hand of Princess Shahnaz Pahlavi, daughter of the Iranian Shah Muhammad Reza Shah, but was turned down by Shahnaz. At the time of his death, King Faisal was engaged to be married to HH Princess Sabiha Fazila Hanım Sultan, the only daughter of HE Damat HH Prince Muhammad 'Ali Ibrahim Beyefendi of Egypt and HIH Princess Zahra Hanzade Sultan. Head of Royal House: 1958 - 1970 Prince Zeid bin Hussein, GCVO, GBE (Arabic: الأمير زيد بن الحسين‎) born (February 28, 1898 - October 18, 1970) was a member of the Hashemite dynasty and the head of the Royal House of Iraq from 1958 until his death and had issue*. Prince Zeid was the only son of King Hussein of Hejaz and his third wife Adila Khanum. He was educated at Ghalata Serai (Galatasaray High School) College, Constantinople College and Balliol College, Oxford.

From 1916 - 1919, Prince Zeid was the Commander of the Arab Northern Army. In 1918 T. E. Lawrence suggested that he be made King of a truncated Syria. The advent of French rule resulted in his 1923 assignment to the Iraqi Cavalry and he was promoted to Colonel. Zeid was also Iraqi ambassador in Berlin and in Ankara in 1930s and in London in the 1950s. On July 14, 1958, Prince Zeid was appointed Head of the Royal House of Iraq, following the assassination of his great-nephew King Faisal II by General Muhammad Najib ar-Ruba'i, who proclaimed Iraq to be a Republic. Zeid and his family continued to live in London, where the family resided during the coup, as Zeid was the Iraqi ambassador there. Prince Zeid died in Paris on October 18, 1970, and is buried in the Royal Mausoleum at Raghdan Palace, Amman, Jordan. His son Prince Ra'ad succeeded him as head of the Royal House of Iraq.

*HRH Prince Ra'ad bin Zeid - born February 18, 1936, married to Margaretha Inga Elisabeth Lind, now Majda Raad. Head of Royal House: 1970- Prince Ra'ad bin Zeid (Arabic: الأمير رعد بن زيد‎) (born 18 February 1936 in Berlin where his father was Iraqi ambassador at the time) is the son of Prince Zeid of the Hashemite House and Princess Fahrelnissa Zeid (Fakhr un-nisa), a Turkish noblewoman. Upon the death of his father on October 18, 1970, he inherited the position as head of the Royal Houses of Iraq and Syria. Ra'ad has lived in London and Paris. The Kingdom of Jordan has confirmed his style as His Royal Highness and Prince and has issue. HRH Prince Zeid bin Ra'ad - born January 26, 1964, married to Sarah Butler.

(Now HRH Princess Sarah Zeid.) They have 2 children, HH Prince Ra'ad bin Zeid (Born: 17 May 2001.) and HH Princess Hala bint Zeid. (Born: 13 March 2003.) HRH Prince Mired bin Ra'ad - born January 11, 1965, married to Dina Khalifeh. (Now HRH Princess Dina Mired.) They have 3 children, HH Princess Shirin bint Mir'ed. (Born: 19 May 1993) HH Prince Rakan bin Mir'ed (Born: 20 November 1995) and HH Prince Jafar bin Mir'ed. (Born: 4 September 2002.) HRH Prince Firas bin Ra'ad - born October 12, 1969, married to Dana Toukan. (Now HRH Princess Dana Firas.) They have 2 children, HH Princess Safa bint Firas (Born: 26 July 2001.) and HH Princess Haya bint Firas.

(Born: 7 March 2003) HRH Prince Faisal bin Ra'ad - born March 6, 1975, graduated from Brown University, and married to Lara Sukhtian. (Now HRH Princess Lara Faisal.) She worked with MSNBC news in Baghdad covering the Iraq war. She's the daughter of Munjid Sukhtian. They have 2 children, HH Princess Hanan bint Faisal (Born: 3 September 2006) and HH Princess Mariam bint Faisal. (Born: 25 July 2008) HRH Princess Fakhrelnissa bint Ra'ad - born January 11, 1981, married to Sharif Hajjar. They have 2 children, Radwan Hajjar (Born: 8 August 2006.) and Faisal Hajjar.

(Born: 14 December 2007) Heir to Headship of Royal House: Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al-Hussein was born 26 January 1964 in Amman, Jordan to Prince Ra'ad bin Zeid head of the Royal Houses of Iraq and Syria and pretender to the Iraqi throne and his Swedish-born wife Margaretha Inga Elisabeth Lind, henceforward known as Majda Raad. He is Jordan's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, a post he already held previously for six and a half years (2000-2007). From 2007-2010 he served as Jordan's Ambassador to the United States and non-resident Ambassador to Mexico. Prince Zeid was married on the 5 July 2000 at Amman to Sarah Butler and has issue.

HH Prince Ra'ad - born 17 May 2001 HH Princess Hala - born 13 March 2003 Faisal II of Iraq | Military Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Faisal II of Iraq Sunni Islam [1] Faisal II (Arabic: الملك فيصل الثاني Al-Malik Fayṣal Ath-thānī) (2 May 1935 – 14 July 1958) was the last King of Iraq. He reigned from 4 April 1939 until July 1958, when he was murdered during the 14 July Revolution together with numerous members of his family. This regicide marked the end of the thirty-seven-year-old Hashemite monarchy in Iraq, which then became a republic. Contents Edit Faisal at the age of 5 Faisal was the only son of Iraq's second king, Ghazi , and his wife Queen Aliya , second daughter of ' Ali bin Hussein , King of the Hijaz and Grand Sharif of Mecca.

Faisal's father was killed in a mysterious car crash when he was three years old; his uncle 'Abd al-Ilah served as regent until Faisal came of age in 1953. King Faisal was the model used by Belgian comic writer Hergé for his character Prince Abdullah of Khemed in The Adventures of Tintin . [2] He suffered from asthma. [3] 1941 coup Edit King Faisal of Iraq c.1944 Faisal's childhood coincided with World War II , in which Iraq was formally allied with the British Empire and the Allies . In April 1941, his uncle 'Abd al-Ilah was briefly deposed as Regent by a military coup d'état which aimed to align Iraq with the Axis powers . The 1941 coup in Iraq soon led to the Anglo-Iraqi War . German aid that was promised however never materialised, and 'Abd al-Ilah was restored to power by a combined Allied force composed of the Jordanian Arab Legion , the Royal Air Force and other British units. Iraq resumed its British alliance, and at the end of the war joined the United Nations.

During his early years, Faisal was tutored at the royal palace with several other Iraqi boys. During World War II, he lived for a time with his mother at Grove Lodge at Winkfield Row in Berkshire in the United Kingdom . As a teenager, Faisal attended Harrow School with his second cousin Hussein, later to become King Hussein of Jordan . The two boys were close friends, and reportedly planned early on to merge their two realms, to counter what they considered to be the threat of militant pan-Arab nationalism. In 1952, Faisal visited the United States, where he met President Harry Truman , Dean Acheson , the actor James Mason , and Jackie Robinson , among others. Hastening Faisal's demise was the decision taken by his regent (later confirmed by him) to allow Great Britain to retain a continued role in Iraqi affairs, through the Anglo-Iraqi Treaty of 1948 , and later the Baghdad Pact , signed in 1955. Massive protests greeted news of each of these alliances, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of demonstrators and an increasing deterioration of loyalty to the Iraqi crown. End of Regency Edit Prince Abdul Ilah (holding hat) at Mount Vernon USA.

He was the regent for his nephew Faisal during his infancy. They were both killed during the 1958 coup. Faisal attained his majority on 2 May 1953, commencing his active rule with little experience and during a changing Iraqi political and social climate, exacerbated by the rapid development of pan-Arab nationalism. Faisal initially relied for political advice upon his uncle Prince 'Abd al-Ilah , and General Nuri al-Sa'id , a veteran politician and nationalist who had already served several terms as Prime Minister. As oil revenues increased during the 1950s, the king and his advisers chose to invest their wealth in development projects, which some claimed increasingly alienated the rapidly growing middle class and the peasantry. The Iraqi Communist Party increased its influence. Though the regime seemed secure, intense dissatisfaction with Iraq's condition brewed just below the surface. An ever-widening gap between the wealth possessed by the political elites, landowners and other supporters of the regime on the one hand, and the poverty of workers and peasants on the other, intensified opposition to Faisal's government. Since the upper classes controlled the parliament, reformists increasingly saw revolution as their sole hope for improvement.

The toppling of Egypt 's monarchy in 1952–53 by Gamal Abdel Nasser provided an impetus for a similar undertaking in Iraq. On 1 February 1958, neighbouring Syria joined with Nasser's Egypt to form the United Arab Republic . This prompted the Hashemite kingdoms of Iraq and Jordan to strengthen their ties by establishing a similar alliance. Two weeks later, on 14 February, this league formally became the Arab Federation of Iraq and Jordan . Faisal, as the senior member of the Hashemite family, became its head of state. Downfall and murder Edit Faisal's political situation deteriorated in 1956, with uprisings in the cities of Najaf and Hayy. Meanwhile, Israel's attack on Egypt , coordinated with Britain and France in response to Nasser's nationalisation of the Suez Canal, only exacerbated popular revulsion of the Baghdad Pact – and thus, Faisal's regime. The opposition began to coordinate its activities; in February 1957, a "Front of National Union" was established, bringing together the National Democrats, Independents, Communists, and the Ba'ath Party.

An identical process ensued within the Iraqi officer corps, with the formation of a "Supreme Committee of Free Officers". Faisal's government endeavoured to preserve the military's loyalty through generous benefits, but this proved increasingly ineffective as more and more officers came to sympathise with the nascent anti-monarchist movement. 14 July Revolution Main article: 14 July Revolution In the summer of 1958, King Hussein of Jordan asked for Iraqi military assistance during the escalating Lebanon crisis . Units of the Iraqi Army under the command of Abd al-Karim Qasim , en route to Jordan, chose to march on Baghdad instead, where they mounted a coup d'état on 14 July 1958.

During the 14 July Revolution , Faisal II ordered the royal guard to offer no resistance, and Faisal himself surrendered to the insurgents.[ citation needed ] Around 8 am, Captain Abdul Sattar Sabaa Al-Ibousi, leading the revolutionary assault group at the palace, ordered the King, Prince 'Abd al-Ilah , Princess Hiyam ('Abd al-Ilah's wife), Princess Nafeesa ('Abd al-Ilah's mother), Princess Abadiya (Faisal's aunt) and several servants to gather in the palace courtyard. Here, they were told to turn towards the wall, where all were immediately machine-gunned by their captors. Faisal, who had not died during the initial fusillade, was transported to a hospital, but died en route.

Princess Hiyam survived her injuries, caused during the massacre, and was able to escape the country.[ citation needed ] Many years later, when the Iraqi historian Safa Khulusi met Al-Ibousi, who was once one of Khulusi’s students, and questioned him on his part in Faisal’s death, the former student answered "all I did was remember Palestine, and the trigger on the machine-gun just set itself off". [4] Nuri as-Said, Faisal's Prime Minister, was killed by Qassim's supporters the day after the kings death. The Hashemite monarchy in Iraq, having been inspired by the occupying British administration following the end of Ottoman rule, and supported by a national referendum in 1921, was abolished by revolution without popular consent.[ citation needed ] Control over the country passed to a tripartite "Sovereignty Council," composed of representatives of Iraq's three major ethnic groups.

A lengthy period of political instability ensued, culminating in the ultimate triumph in 1968 of the Ba'ath Party, which in turn led to the eventual coming to power of Saddam Hussein .[ citation needed ] Betrothals Edit Faisal first asked for the hand of Princess Shahnaz Pahlavi , daughter of the Iranian Shah Muhammad Reza Shah , but was turned down by Shahnaz. Faisal then was betrothed to Princess Kıymet Hanım , a descendant of the last Mamluk dynasty of Iraq , in January 1958. This engagement was called off three months later. At the time of his death, King Faisal was engaged to be married to HH Princess Sabiha Fazila Hanım Sultan , the only daughter of HE Damat HH Prince Muhammad 'Ali Ibrahim Beyefendi of Egypt and HIH Princess Zahra Hanzade Sultan . Military ranks

Question: In 1958, King Faisal ll was murdered at 23 years old. He was the last King of which country?
Answer: Iraq